Rainbow Photo Tours of

This will be just the fifth time the tour hikes to Tiger's Nest on day 15, heretofore we made the hike on day two because we did not return to Paro, we exited south through India. And something else that is new is a pre-dawn hike to Tiger's Nest to avoid the crowds and heat as we watch the morning light on Bhutan's most famous and scenic icon. After a one-and-a-half hour strenuous hike led by one-on-one guides we will be served a hot picnic breakfast as we look across the chasm to young monks lighting morning incense fires at Taktsang Monastery, dubbed Tiger's Nest because of the legend associated with it. Then we will we will climb down and up the 1,000 stone steps to visit the monastery when it opens at 9 a.m. This very early hike will most likely be made by just our group since the large fleet of tour buses don't start to arrive until around 9 a.m. On average, 1,000 tourists a day hike to Tiger's Nest--the parking lot is packed with buses, noisy tourists scare off the birds, monkeys and goats and the glaring sun causes you to peel off clothing as the trail is not in a forest but rather out in the open. (Please see Robin's story on Tiger's Nest for Tashi Delek Magazine, the in-flight magazine for Royal Druk Air, posted on the Rainbow Photo Tours web site.) An important place of pilgrimage and refuge for more than 1200 years, Taktsang Monastery clings to sheer cliffs two thousand feet above Paro Valley. As of 2004, after the rebuilding from a fire, foreigners have permission to hike all the way to Tiger's Nest, visit some of the altar rooms and maybe get a grand tour from the lama stationed there.

This sacred place got its name when Guru Rimpoche rode there on the back of a flying tigress and meditated in a cave behind the present-day monastery. Sadly, in 1998, the central temple was destroyed by fire leaving the country in mourning for their holiest of spiritual places. But religious leaders and the King quickly developed a plan to rebuild Taktsang and donations poured in from Buddhist centers all over the world. Today, the magnificent temple is completely rebuilt to its original glory and Tiger's Nest is once again the subject of cloud-shrouded posters that say, "Bhutan, Land of the Thunder Dragon.

After we descend to the base of Taktsang you can visit any place around Paro that you might have missed. Tonight would be a good night to luxuriate yourself with a hot stone bath and massage, reservations necessary. Dinner and halt, NakSel Boutique Resort.